Pakistan’s incumbent party rejected early election results Thursday that suggested former cricket hero Imran Khan was on his way to becoming the country’s next prime minister, alleging “blatant” rigging.
Shahbaz Sharif, the leader of the Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), dismissed results from Wednesday’s nationwide poll as counting was still underway.
“Today what they have done has pushed Pakistan back 30 years… We reject this result,” Sharif, the brother of Pakistan’s jailed ex-leader Nawaz Sharif, told a press conference in Lahore.
“People will not bear it,” he added.
The election has been marred by widespread allegations of pre-poll meddling by the powerful military in favour of Khan, which saw the process dubbed Pakistan’s “dirtiest election”.
As election workers sorted through massive piles of paper ballots, other major parties including the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) also alleged the count was being manipulated.
